Land-drainage system



E. B. DAVIS..

LAND DHAINAGYE SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I8. 1919.

,323,27 Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

EDG-AR B. lDAVIS, OF COLUMBUS, KANSAS.

LAND-DRAINAGE SYS'lElVI.v

Appiieation med June 1s, 19195.,- seri'ai Nq. 305,073.

To allfwhom t may concern: p

Be it'known thatv I, EDGAR B.DAv1s, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Columbus, county of Cherokee, and State of Kansas, have l1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Land-Drainage Systems, of which the following is a full and clearV specification.

This invention relates to that type lof drainage systems in which a drainage-pipe is laid below the surface of the ground, and a porous body of material such as gravel or sand is arranged above kand all along the pipe, whereby the moisture in V.the earth above the pipe will seep into the porous body and thence into the drainage-pipe, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Inthe drawings- Figure I is a view partly in perspective and partly in vertical section showing the manner of constructing my drainage system F ig. 2 is a vertical sectional v iew showing completion of the drainage ditch. h

In practising my invention on cultivated land, I first dig a ditch and lay in the bottom thereof a drainage-pipe A. I mount on the top-side of the pipe a form B that is in the shape of a long flat body and which is wide enough reach to or near the surface of the soil. I then fill-in the ditch on both sides of the form, packing the earth lightly against the form. I then withdraw the form and Ell-in the narrow space thus provided along the top-side of the pipe with material which will form a porous drainage body C; I prefer sand or` gravel, but any other material such as crushed corn-stalks, weeds, hay, etc., may be used, as is evident. This body of porous material is considerably narrower than the drainage-pipe A, so that it will be entirely supported on the pipe and the drainage water will be directed with certainty to the top-side of the pipe. In land that is to be cultivated, I terminate the porous body within plow-depth of the surface ofthe ground and fill-in the space above the porous body with the surrounding top soil, as shown in Fig. 2. In laying my system in non-cultivatedland, I prefer to carry the body of porous material entirely tothe surface of the land, so as to thereby more eectually drain-away the surface water.

I have shown in Fig. 1 a solid form B,

lpress the porous body and hold it in Specification of Letters Patent. Ptgnted Nov. 25, 1919.

which, lof course, must beV entirely withdrawn before' 4the porous material is poured into place, but it Vwill be understood that in those cases where the drainage pipe is large enough to permit it I will employ a hollow form consisting of a pair of separated walls connected together or spaced apart in any suitable manner, the gravel or other material being poured into the space between the parts before they are removed. In the former case, the earth will, of course, be unsupported when the forni is withdrawn, but

in practice I have found that with a little packing of the earth against the form the earth will remain in position until the gravel or other material is poured or dumped into place.k Where a hollow form is used and withdrawn after the porous material is placed therein, the spaces left by the walls after the withdrawal of the form will be quickly filled up by the expansion or gravitation of the porous material. In fact,

it will be'understood vthat the drainage body may be formed in any suitable manner, the essential feature of the invention being the employment of a vertical porous body resting on the top-side of the pipe and being in all cases narrower than the pipe so as to be completely supported by the pipe so as to effectually direct theL drainage water to the top-side of the pipe.v It will be obvious that this system will be extremely inexpensive in view of the comparatively small amount ,of the porous-body making material that will be needed; and it will be observed also that my system will be unusually durable in that the weight of the porous body is borne by the pipe and will, therefore, be maintained in position throughout the length of the pipe for a long time, since the only tendency to Vdissolvev and dissipate the porous body into the earth will be the tendency of the particles composing the body Y to spread laterally into the surrounding acted by the tendency of the earth to com-- tion'vertically above the pipe.

It will be understoodthat the drainagepipeis of the usual type, namely,.a tile sectional pipe or a porous concreteV pipe. In a sectional tile pipe, the` drainage water will venter the pipe through the usual loose joints along the sides and at the ends of the pipe sections; and in a concrete pipe which is posiporous, thewater will seep through theV VWall ofthe pipe at any vpoint Where vit lcomes in vContactthenewith3 p v the invention The nature and scope of having been thus indicated and its preferred embodiment having been specifically d -v 'soribed, what is claimed as new is v -i ,vertioallyoverfthe pipe andrejstingfon the A In a drainage system, avdralnage-plpe ernbedded Vin the earth below the Surface thereofrand a porous drainage bodyarranged surrounding earth being in Contact .'With the-porous body throughout its height to thereby form 'a lateral support Yfor the. pog 

